Salaries of 1,975 Ghanaian public servants withheld following closure of three banks

Public servants who have been affected by the closure of three banks recently, have been advised by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to open fresh accounts with banks of their choice so they can receive their salaries.

It is estimated that 1,975 public servants on the government payroll accessed their salaries through the GN Bank, First Allied Savings and Loans Co Ltd and Women’s World Banking Savings and Loans Co. Ltd which were among the 23 financial institutions that were closed down by the Bank of Ghana on August 16.

GN Savings and Loans Ltd holds the accounts of 1,950 public servants while First Allied Savings and Loans Co. Ltd and Women’s World Banking Savings and Loans Co. Ltd hold the accounts of five and 20 public servants respectively.

In advising the affected workers, the CADG has also asked that the workers furnish the department with their new account numbers as soon as possible to facilitate the payment of their salaries.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Controller and Accountant-General, Mr K. K. Bosompem, said his outfit was holding the August 2019 salaries of the affected workers until the new accounts were submitted as advised.

“Subsequent to the revocation of the licences of some savings and loans companies and finance house holdings by the Bank of Ghana, through which some public servants are paid, our department advised affected employees to open new bank accounts with the bank of their choice and submit the new account details to their respective MDAs for capture,” Mr Bosompem said.

“The MDAs would in turn submit the new account information received from the affected staff to the Payroll Processing Division of the CAGD for loading onto the payroll system to enable the employees to access their accounts.

“Again, we are urging all third-party institutions affected by the BoG measures also to submit their new bank details to the CAGD for the payment of deductions held on their behalf by the department,” Mr Bosompem said.

Mr Bosompem apologised for any inconveniences the new directive might cause but indicated it was meant to safeguard the income of affected employees.He said a circular would be sent to all MDAs and heads of departments to take the necessary steps to ensure the affected workers were paid on time.

Revocation

The Bank of Ghana, on August 16, 2019, revoked the licences of 23 insolvent savings and loans companies and finance house companies.

House; IFS Financial Services Ltd; Legacy Capital Savings and Loans Ltd; Midland Savings and Loans Company Ltd; Sterling Financial Services Ltd; Unicredit Savings and Loans Ltd and Women’s World Banking Savings and Loans Co. Ltd.A statement issued by the BoG on Friday, August 16, 2019, said the revocation of the licences of the institutions had become necessary because they were insolvent even after a reasonable period within which the Bank of Ghana had engaged with them in the hope that they would be recapitalised by their shareholders to return them to solvency.

“These actions were taken pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), which requires the Bank of Ghana to revoke the licence of a Bank or Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution (SDI) where the Bank of Ghana determines that the institution is insolvent,” the statement said.

The BoG appointed Eric Nipah as a Receiver for the specified institutions in line with section 123 (2) of Act 930.